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As the sun began to set, the young men of the Haikara Romantic Squad fell into their futons, physically exhausted and mentally spent. In the past 24 hours, they all had to bear witness to Sousuke Unohana, their senior classmate and close friend, go from caring confidant to overbearing mother figure literally overnight. From being woken up before the crack of dawn to unprompted room cleanings to name embroidery on their underwear, none of them had ever seen their own moms act as much like the green-haired 3rd year had been that whole day. The four of them had even heard the screams of the student council from the floors above at one point, so they knew that Sousuke had gotten to them, as well.
But even so, it was curfew now. And why would he do anything “motherly” this late in the night, anyway?
The sliding door to the bedroom hit the other side of the doorframe with a loud BANG, echoing through the room. The figure under the futon practically leapt out of the blankets, scrambling to the nearest wall in a panic.
“W-Who’s there?!” Shinkurou tried to call out, sounding almost drunkenly from being ripped out of sleep so suddenly. Adjusting his vision to the darkness in the room, praying it wasn’t 4:30 in the morning again, his eyes saw something reflecting the moonlight behind him.
A pair of glasses.
Oh no.
Adjusting himself, the redhead scrambled to his feet, forcing a smile on his face at the sight of his senpai still in mama mode. “H-Hey, Sou-san,” Shinkurou tried to pull himself together, heart still pounding in his chest from shock. “W-What are you doing in here, it’s not…” He glanced at the clock on the table, the hands only reading 10:30. I just went to sleep half an hour ago! He thought to himself, trying not to show the confusion on his face.
At this point, however, Sousuke wasn’t worried about what time it was. “Shinkurou, is this yours?” He held up something to the 2nd year. The younger of the two tried to focus again, and saw it was…a toothbrush? He knew it was his for a couple reasons. One, he had tied a small red ribbon he found one day through the end hole to spruce it up, make it more haikara. And two, the more startling reason, he saw his name on it.
It wasn’t there before.
The dormitory provided basic toiletries for all tenants, and all the toothbrushes they provided had wooden handles. And considering how busy Sousuke was with embroidering undergarments that day, carving names into oral care products was not out of the question.
And if Sousuke was aware Shinkurou’s name was on it, this question wasn’t in earnest.
He was wanting him to realize something.
Knowing he was probably damned either way, Shinkurou just proceeded to answer. “Uh…yeah?” A bead of sweat went down his face, not knowing what his senior wanted him to be conscious of.
“Would you care to explain to me why the bristles are still dry?” He ran his thumb up the head, a rough skriiiiitch noise coming from it.
It was then the haikara-obsessed boy connected the dots. He was so tired from all the forced smothering that he barely had any energy to put on his nightwear, let alone to hit the washroom to brush his teeth. He would’ve remembered in the morning, anyway, what was the harm?
That didn’t make him any less nervous to explain it. “Well…um…I was just so tired and it just slipped my mind, really. I mean it-”
Shinkurou couldn’t finish his sentence. He felt the heavy glare from Sousuke smack into him like a runaway horse, a part of him knowing he was screwed.
“‘Forgetting’ something like this will only cause it to become a habit,” Blue eyes held green ones in a metaphorical chokehold, unwilling to let go for even a second. “And a habit like that will only hinder you and your health in the future.”
Shinkurou tried to talk his way out of it, anything to get Sousuke to stop boring holes into him. “L-Look, I’m sorry. I’ll go do it right now, okay? No harm, no-”
Sousuke shook his head, not taking that apology. “I’ve got a better idea. Come on.”
Within seconds, the glasses-wearing “mother” took Shinkurou’s wrist, pulling him out of the bedroom with him. “S-Sou-san, what are you doing? Let go, s-stop!!”
A few steps down the hall and Sousuke let go of his wrist…only to throw the door of another room wide open. A shrill scream was heard along with some muffled grumbling, and Shinkurou could tell which room he broke into. Poking his head in, he saw a groggy-eyed Ushio chewing on his pillow while Akuta had practically climbed the walls from being scared awake in this fashion.
“Sou-kun, what are you doing?!” Akuta demanded to know, carefully coming back down to the ground.
Ushio nodded his head. “It’s not breakfast time yet, I wanna go back to sleep…”
Sousuke was about to explain what was going to happen, when another groan could be heard coming from another direction.
“What’s with all the noise?” Narushi rubbed his eyes as he came down the hall. “All this sound isn’t gorgeous at all, especially when I’m trying to sleep to stay gorgeous!”
Shinkurou stared at his other 3rd year friend in disbelief; he was somehow able to sleep through the first door slam? Though honestly, the main thing he really wanted was to tell him to run, but he knew it was already too late.
“Oh, Narushi,” his roommate gave a disarming smile, unlike what he had shown to the remainder of the group. “There’s something I was wanting to talk to you all about. Would you come to the washroom with us?” He glanced at the other three in the room, eyes now demanding compliance.
With his groggy state, Narushi went along with it. “Sure, but please make it quick…”
“Don’t worry. I won’t take any longer than I need to.”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The four of them leaned against a wall of the dormitory bathroom, wondering why Sousuke just told them to wait there. The 1st years and Narushi were unaware of any reason for it, but even Shinkurou didn’t know why he left. His toothbrush was left by his cup before he went out, so if that was all he wanted, then-
“LET GO OF ME!!”
“Unhand us, Unohana Sousuke!”
“I’ll have your head for handling my lord in this way, you mongrel!!”
Eight wide eyes looked at each other hearing those voices. They all knew those voices…all too well, in fact.
The door to the washroom opened, and two young men in embellished pajamas were unceremoniously thrown in, with a third running in brandishing a sword.
The student council.
“What is the meaning of this?!” Sutoreito yelled, adjusting the collar of his top. “It’s past curfew, why on earth would you-”
“As the Kurotama Dormitory ‘mama’ for the time being,” Sousuke finally came into the room, a small bag resting on his wrist. “I must make sure everyone within is taking care of themselves, even if it means staying up a bit past normal hours.”
Sitting the bag on the countertop near the washbasin, everyone tried to figure out what gears were turning in the green-haired man’s head. But after a few clink sounds from the removal of the bag’s contents, everyone started to sweat.
All of their toothbrushes and cups were lined up on the counter, now including Sutoreito’s, Samon’s, and Tasuku’s from the bag he was holding, along with a few tubes of toothpaste, and…what were those metal things right next to it?!
“One of you neglected brushing your teeth tonight, and while I won’t say exactly who, I want to make sure all of you are doing it properly.”
The confusion from the seven in their sleepwear was two-fold. First, they were questioning what would prompt Sousuke to even have this train of thought. But that wasn’t a long thought, as the other one came quicker and was more prominent:
Who was the idiot who caused this?
All three members of the student council glared at the supposed “Earth Defense Club”, knowing it had to be one of them. Narushi shook his head immediately at the accusation. “Someone as beautiful as I would never! My gorgeous smile tainted like that? I don’t know how you’d think of such a thing!”
Ushio also shook his head, pointing to Akuta in the process. “We did it together.”
“Because you were half-asleep by the time I was changed, Ukkun!” Akuta retorted, trying to hide what that kind of phrasing sounded like. “It was either that or you’d forget, too!”
“Well, if what the words of these dregs are to be believed,” Tasuku huffed, adjusting his glasses. “Then that means…”
Shinkurou thought Sousuke staring at him was bad…now everyone else was glaring at him.
“Look, I forgot, okay?!”
He didn’t get much of a chance to defend himself further, as Sousuke was now putting himself in the middle of it all. “So, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can all go back to sleep.”
He pulled two stools from the wall to the middle of the room, both of them dangerously close to each other. Grabbing one of the metal objects and sitting down in one, he pointed to the other. “Shinkurou, if you would?”
Everyone put two and two together very quickly, and everyone’s faces changed. Some went red with anger, some drained to a pale white…and the one with the crimson hair grew red around the cheeks when realizing what Sousuke would possibly do. “Sou-san, i-it’s okay, really. I can do that myself, remember? Isn’t independence haika-”
“Shinkurou…” Sousuke’s voice deepened, the pressure from his voice almost crushing them all to the point even Samon felt threatened. The green-eyed 2nd year was already in hot water from everyone else. If it got worse for him, let alone the rest of them, who knew what hell he’d have to pay?
To avoid that fate, he quickly sat himself on the stool across from his senior. He tried convincing himself he was overthinking things, but then the metal object Sousuke grabbed was pressed against his lips, the light glinting from the reflection revealing it to be a mirror of some sort.
Before Shinkurou had the chance to wonder how he even had something like that, Sousuke had a grip on his chin, angling it up slightly. “Come on, open up. Say ‘ahh’...”
Yep, out of all the things he and his friends were dealing with today, this was the least haikara of them all.
Yet again knowing he wasn’t getting out of this by anyone, he decided to just bite the bullet and opened his mouth for Sousuke. He closed his eyes in the process, but knew the other was looking when he felt cold metal hit against his teeth. Shinkurou felt like he did when his parents booked an appointment for him with the new dentist in town in the middle of his 1st year. The old man was alright, but he did not know how to make a welcoming environment at all. And the sounds he heard from the patient before him? It made him shudder just thinking about it.
Sousuke made a few humming sounds before removing the mirror. “Alright…next step.” Standing up, he went back to the counter, rearranging and messing with a few more things.
The remaining six boys watched what the 3rd year was doing with concern, Ushio, Akuta, and Narushi being more obvious about it than the rest. They all knew that Shinkurou was effectively the guinea pig; anything that happened to him would be happening to them. “Can’t Sousuke-senpai be faster?” Ushio whispered to Akuta. “I’m getting hungrier by the minute.”
“Don’t wish for that!” His roommate hissed at him, already a bit pale in the face. “You want what Shin-kun’s getting to come for you sooner?”
“What’s the big deal? It’s not like he’s going to-”
Ushio’s words were cut off by a muffled struggle in front of them. The two of them snapped to attention, only to be met with the sight of Sousuke, Shinkurou’s toothbrush in hand, making the redhead literally foam at the mouth from bubbling toothpaste.
Akuta was cursing the fact that any potential exit was stopped by a thick pane of glass or a probable grab by the scruff of the neck.
Shinkurou felt himself get a decade younger mentally and it didn’t feel any less embarrassing compared to back then. In fact, it was significantly worse here. There wasn’t a lot that made the 2nd year self-conscious (at least the underwear was hidden under multiple layers of clothing), but this was akin to public humiliation in his eyes. He would have been yelling about how un-haikara this all was at the top of his lungs, he even tried at one point, but Sousuke was brushing his teeth at such a pace that the suds forming practically gagged any noise he tried to make. Not to mention he almost literally gagged once or twice, but by then he decided not to draw any more attention to the situation than what was already there.
“Alright, we’re done,” Sousuke gave a satisfied sigh, setting the toothbrush down on a cloth on his thigh. Not caring if he got snapped at, Shinkurou immediately ran to the basin, rinsing his mouth out as fast as he could. He was glad that he felt cleaner after that…in only one way, unfortunately…
“Okaaaay, thanks Sou-san,” said the Defense Club leader awkwardly, refusing to call his senpai “mommy” ever again after that. “So, can we all just go back to sleep now or-”
“Wait,” was the response Sou-san gave.
Oh COME ON!!
Shinkurou didn’t know what else Sousuke would do further; what could he do further?
Despite knowing they could potentially be sharing a similar fate, both Akuta and Ushio laughed out loud at Sousuke’s last action. Even Tasuku couldn’t fully hide a snicker as the 3rd year pulled apart the lips of the 2nd, forcing him to bare his teeth in the most ridiculous of ways so the mother could check his own handiwork. It didn’t last long, less than a minute at most, but to Unzen it was utter defeat personified.
When Sousuke finally pulled his hands out of his mouth (for real this time), Shinkurou didn’t give any more thank yous or pleasantries. He immediately went to the wall, near his friends yet distant from them at the same time.
“Shin-chan,” Narushi leaned forward, the 1st years between him and his oldest junior. “Are you okay?”
A forced, now fully-clean smile was all Shinkurou had the energy to give at that point in time, feeling he might have the strength to elaborate later. Might.
Sousuke cleared his throat, looking at the remaining half dozen teenagers in the room with him. “Okay, who’s next?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Akuta had to deal with a lot of things as the eldest in his family, trying to be a good example and all for each of his brothers. This time, however, at least in someone like Sousuke’s eyes, he was the prime example of the opposite.
And no one else in that room could blame him.
Ushio’s little exam and brushing had gone off relatively without a hitch (all the third year had to do was promise him a larger portion of breakfast in the morning under the guise of “it’ll taste even better being clean from the night before”), and yet again the purple-haired boy was cursing the fact everything was working against him all day. Unable to stall any longer, he cautiously started to go up to Sousuke when it was his turn.
However, one glance of a cleaned mirror in his senior’s hand and his own prepped toothbrush right next to him was enough to send the boy into fight or flight…emphasis on the latter. Eyeing an opening between Tasuku and Samon, he bolted for the exit, hoping he could hide in a storage closet or even a high tree outside until it all had blown over.
Unfortunately, even with the 16 years of family ninja training under his belt, Sousuke was somehow faster.
That’s how he was currently in the position he was in right now. Forearms were wrapped around and pressed firmly against his chest, locking Akuta in place as he tried to struggle out of the elder’s grasp. All the while, Unohana was meticulously threading a string of dental floss between his teeth. He thought his roommate and 2nd year senior looked ridiculous before; he didn’t even want to comprehend how embarrassing he probably looked at that moment.
”Let…let go of me!!” Akuta wailed, still trying in vain to slip out of the other’s hold while he rewound the floss. “Why am I the only one who gets this? Shin-kun and Ukkun didn’t have to!”
“Because,” Sousuke responded right back. “There was a bit of bleeding while I was brushing. Doing this can help with the matter.”
Even though I think you were doing it WAY too hard…Akuta thought in his mind, before said thought started to be verbalized. “…maybe it was because you decided to-!”
His rebuttal was cut off quickly, a pair of fingers wedging between his teeth again. “Enough talking. Wider.”
Tears pricked in the red eyes of the Aso’s eldest, his jaw being forced open to an uncomfortable degree as Sousuke went to target further back in his mouth. A defeated cry bounced off the walls of the washroom, the only thing able to be done by Akuta now being to pray for himself to pass out and forget this ever happened…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The violet-hued junior rubbed the sides of his jaw as he practically shoved Narushi up to Sousuke. “Here, take your next victim!” He shouted through clenched teeth, too jaded from his experience to care about any consequences. Throwing himself against the wall, he crossed his arms in a huff, hoping that he wouldn’t be the one in the most stupid of positions that night.
Narushi was the least hesitant compared to the three that went before him, but even he had a hint of reservation at the endeavor. He witnessed first-hand how his roommate had flipped a switch in a day; the unpredictable nature was unnerving and certainly not the most beautiful thing. Even so, despite the push, he calmly went up and sat in the stool opposite their mother-on-duty. How bad could it truly be?
Sousuke was about to go through the motions for a fourth time, when he saw his fellow 3rd year and how he looked in front of him. Whether it was intended or not, Narushi almost looked like he was trying to soften him a bit with the expression he was holding. “Sou-chan…be gentle with me, please?”
While it wasn’t getting him out of it, the one across from the self-proclaimed narcissist did take a hit, pink starting to dust his cheeks. “It’ll be quick, like I said.” Sousuke held the mirror up and Narushi wasted no time in letting him get a look.
Ushio was getting a bit bleary-eyed by this point, just wanting to go back to his futon until breakfast. But even in the haziness, he noticed something odd. “Hey, Akuta,” he whispered and tugged on his roommate’s sleeve, the one in question still pouting and rubbing his cheeks. “Look at Sousuke-senpai.”
Akuta glared at his older friend, not seeing anything at first, but his eyes grew to the size of saucers when he figured out what Ushio was talking about. “Is he…is he smiling?!”
“I think so. Why would he…”
“Does he actually…” The two of them whispered back and forth, now asking many questions about their senior they never thought they’d have.
Finishing his look-over, Sousuke still had a small smile on his face when Narushi opened his eyes again. “I have to say though, I don’t think I would need to do much, brushing-wise. You already did a wonderful job earlier.”
Narushi flashed a grin five times as big to his friend’s, pride from the praise building in his chest. “Why thank you~ However, I don’t suppose skipping out on mine would be all that fair to our juniors, would it? Everyone deserves this teaching, even one as dazzling as me!”
Tasuku watched the whole situation and thought he was going to throw up. After spending a few days observing how he acted when a certain tree was involved, he knew precisely why his upperclassman of a lower class would do this.
“Well, I don’t see why not, especially with you willing like this.” A chuckle came out while he put some paste on the brush with the Sukayu name marked in it. “Alright, open up.”
Narushi practically sang out an “Ahh~” as Sousuke went ahead with the brushing. By comparison, he was gentler with his strokes, his roommate even laughing through the bubbles in the process. “Stop, I-I’m ticklish!” He tried to say amongst the foam.
“Just a bit longer,” Sousuke cooed, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You’re doing a great job. What a role model for everyone here, you are.”
Satisfied noises came from Narushi, his ego blowing up like a balloon up until the point he was told to rinse. As he set the instruments down, the glasses-wearing 3rd year faced him one more time. “Now, show me?”
The beauty addict gave him yet another pearly smile, a pinch or two at his lips being all it took for Sousuke to approve. “Very good.”
To the others who had received the mother’s “treatment” earlier, it wasn’t just the beaming from the narcissist that was blinding everyone in the room. Akuta rolled his eyes so far in the back of his head, he swore he saw whatever was left of his brain.
“Talk about mommy picking favorites…”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As Narushi walked back to the wall where his friends were gathered, the student council all looked at each other, as if they were having a conversation that no one else could hear. “Ahem,” Sutoreito cleared his throat, trying to both catch and not catch the supposed mother’s attention simultaneously. “While your concern for the common folk’s oral hygiene is admirable, I believe it would be wise for us to take our leave and-”
“Who said that it was only the ‘common folk’ I was ‘concerned’ about?”
As the remaining three caught a glance at Sousuke, the Bankara Avant-Garde Corps members' blood ran cold. His eyes held the same weight as they did when…the unspeakable act all of them vowed never to bring up again…began to transpire. Just as Shinkurou had felt not too long ago, each of them knew, no matter what they tried to do to avoid it or escape, there was no way out for them.
Despite an apprehension building in his chest and memories from hours ago still burning in his mind, Sutoreito stepped out of line from the other two noblemen, choosing to volunteer as a tribute to this dilemma of who would break the tension between them. In almost an instinctive manner, Samon pulled the sword from his side and stepped in front of the blond president. “My lord, I can’t let you prostrate yourself like this in front of him, think of what occurred only-”
“Nyuto Samon…” The same tone Sousuke held when he called for Shinkurou was used in targeting the vice-president, the only thing keeping a nervous squeak from his lips being the dignity he had to guard the Doumeki heir. “I said earlier that it’s dangerous to brandish a sword indoors…did I not?”
The grey-haired boy’s legs trembled at the growing anger and pressure emanating off of Sousuke, and finally it all became too much. Unable to hold back the fear any longer, he sheathed his sword as fast as he could…and also grabbed Tasuku, putting him in front of both himself and Sutoreito. “Tasuku, you must be the first line of defense for our lord!”
“Who said you could pull me into this, you meathead?!” Tasuku yelled, trying to pull himself out of the trembling traitor’s grip. “All that’s saying is that you’re a little-”
“Ahem,” Sutoreito cleared his throat even louder this time, shutting the two of them up before the fire could turn into an inferno. “Despite what…methods…Unohana chooses, we must at least be respectful of his dedication and show it in a way that is fitting.”
Despite what he said and his “courage” to break through the human wall and go first, Samon and Tasuku both knew he was full of shit as he spoke. The secretary caught a glimpse of his clenched fist shaking as he sat down on the stool. Samon grew more and more worried (for both Sutoreito and himself) as Sousuke prepped his tools for the fifth time that night.
Sutoreito didn’t dare humiliate himself further by vocalizing anything as he showed himself for the one opposite him, but it didn’t eliminate the feelings he had as Sousuke looked from the fronts of his incisors to the backs of his molars, almost like he was inspecting a contestant in some kind of dog show. He felt an uncomfortable itch surge through his body, making everything he wore from his neck to his toes feel alien yet necessary. No matter what the situation was in the room, he felt eyes all around him. Critical, tracking everything. He refused to give any of them the satisfaction, only looking at Sousuke if he happened to have his own eyes open at any point.
Until…
“It’ll be okay, Su-san,” Sutoreito heard a painfully familiar voice come beside him as Sousuke prepared the second half. Shinkurou finally gained enough strength to speak again. “Why don’t you try thinking about something else? I do that all the time during tests, it’s super haikara!”
Unzen Shinkurou was consistently a pest in Sutoreito’s eyes (and part of that statement made him feel ill thinking about his test scores)...but for once he might have had some solid advice.
But he sure as hell wasn’t going to let him know that.
He huffed at the redhead. “I wouldn’t be giving out solutions to a problem you created, ignora-!” He couldn’t finish his retort; Momma was ready to move things along. Sousuke took the president’s chin, assuming the other knew what he wanted him to do next.
As he felt toothpaste start to spread in his mouth, Sutoreito shut his eyes again. However, this time the blond decided to take on the tactic from the one he considered a friend at some point. Instead of just fighting his thoughts, he tried to let them flow.
I can't believe that fool put himself in this situation, let alone forced us to be associated with it!
And now he's suggesting I move my mind elsewhere with that moronic smile on his face…
…He's always smiling every time I see him, calling half of what he sees “haikara”, as if that truly means anything to him…
He was going on and on about this dessert that was just a banana with frozen confection on top and calling it that, it didn't make any sense…
I remember our kitchen staff made a more modern dessert while I was at the estate over winter break…it was chocolate, and had both a fudge-like consistency and a flaking top at the same time…they should have told me what it was called…
I should introduce him to that at some point, show him something of new value that isn't garish at the same time…
Though I remember my father getting flakes on his suit when we partook in it…I would have to make sure he didn't do the same, make even more of a fool of himself…
How would I do that? I could get a tasteful bite sized out for him, one that wouldn't be large and unstable…but that idiot would still probably end up spilling it on himself…maybe I could…just the first time…give him the bite myself, almost like-
“Su-san, you're doing amazing! You aren't even flinching at anything Sou-san's doing!”
Like being ripped from a daydream, Sutoreito's eyes shot open when he heard Shinkurou's voice echo through the room. As he regained his vision, he realized many things at once:
He could taste nothing but foaming toothpaste, his own toothbrush currently in the back of his mouth by his glaring (from focusing) classmate.
Shinkurou was right behind Sousuke, eyes glittering at the sight in front of him.
And he was just considering the thought of spoon-feeding the redhead bites of a dessert.
Samon’s eyes widened in panic, watching his liege suddenly retch and double over in his seat in a coughing fit, piles of bubbles and a clattering brush hitting the floor in the process. “My lord!” He screamed, breaking away from where he was standing and rushing to the group. “What’s going o-”
“It’s fine, Nyuto,” Sousuke butted in, an audible squeak on the floor heard as Samon grinded to a halt at the mother’s voice. “I was just finished, anyway. Nothing wrong with it.” As the president was still recovering, he guided him to the basin, knowing that was where he would go next. He was almost about to turn the water on for him before Sutoreito regained composure, telling the one with glasses that he could easily do something like this himself, trying to hide the color in his cheeks in the process.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The sword-bearer didn’t see the self-entitled homemaker check his most recent dental cleaning; he had his back to everyone in the room. While he was glad that his lord was alright and not harmed (at least from the outset), he was growing more and more nervous by what that meant afterwards.
To be completely blunt, he was absolutely terrified of Sousuke in this state, and the fact that in minutes he was going to be focused exclusively on him, no way out of it at all? He would rather have had a hundred enemies of the Doumeki name in front of him and take them all on with a stick before facing Unohana.
“Oh my, the son of a count appears to be trembling before me.” Sharp canines poked out in a snide grin as Tasuku watched Samon, the hem of the latter’s nightshirt moving up and down slightly with the shaking of his legs. “Don’t tell me…you’re actually scared right now?”
“D-D-Don’t be foolish, Tasuku!” The silver-haired 2nd year bluffed, the weakest look of forced confidence gracing his features. “I’m simply reinvigorating my legs. I have been standing still for most of this time, it’s important to stretch whenever-”
“Alright. Nyuto, you’re next,” Sousuke’s voice cut over Samon’s through-his-teeth lies, and the one releasing them shrieked at the prospect. His whole body was shaking now, not even wanting to face the mother figure in the vicinity. All he wanted was to leave the room, no, leave the building entirely, and take the rest of the council with him.
“You really are scared!” Tasuku’s smiling went from the snide to the shit-eating variety as he stared down the vice president’s blood-drained face. “I never thought I’d see you in such a pathetic state!”
Samon was still fighting with all his might to convince otherwise. “N-No, I am simply taking the technique and applying it to the rest of my body, isn’t it obvio-”
His words were cut off as he felt a hand grab at his jaw, forcibly turning his head to the right to see Sousuke glaring daggers in his direction. “I think we all would appreciate ending this night as soon as possible, Vice President. Wouldn’t you agree?”
This was it, the same pressure he felt the first time Sousuke had his sights locked on him. Samon felt beads of sweat run down his temples, unsure if he was going to make it out of the night alive. Without a word, he backed into the stool the others had been in before him, knowing his fate was sealed.
Sousuke, throughout all of this, didn’t necessarily hold any malice to his school junior holding things up. He was satisfied once the other had sat down, starting the routine again with the mirror. “Alright then. Come on, ahh…”
Everything started to bubble inside of Samon like a rumbling volcano. He didn’t want to do this, he needed to be as strong as his lord. He was staring a threatening being in the face, he had to prove Tasuku wrong. He wasn’t aware of how all of these emotions would mix together, and when he finally opened his mouth wide…
Every member of the Earth Defense Club had their jaws drop at the sight in front of them, whether they were watching the entire thing or were woken up by the loud noise threatening to break the windows.
And of all the ones to break the deafening silence amongst the deafening noise, it was Shinkurou.
“Is Mon-san…crying?”
Mon-san was indeed crying. A lot. Shinkurou could have sworn that he was hearing the same wails as the child he heard back at that dentist’s office around a year ago. Except he knew he wasn’t. From where he was standing, all he could see was his classmate with a mirror in his mouth reflecting the back sides of his teeth.
However, again, the mommy for the night didn’t flinch at the young man with tears running down his face. “There there,” he hushed, rubbing his free hand in circles on Samon’s shoulder. “I’m almost done, no need to cry.” It was Narushi’s turn to feel deja vu for a moment, those words and tone sounding eerily similar to how he was treated not too long ago. Nevertheless, he knew that his oral care routine was superior to the one on the stool, so…
Samon’s eyes were starting to puff up by the time Sousuke was finished with his first check. “I’m…I-I’m really sorry…” he choked out, sounding less like he was seventeen and more like seven…being scolded by his actual mother.
“There’s no need to apologize. You’ll be fine, Nyuto.” Every time Sousuke spoke in Samon’s general direction, he carried a disarming smile that would’ve worked on anyone who was unaware of his actions. To the majority of them in the room, however, they all knew the truth.
Samon was in the minority on this, though. He thought everything was going to blow over and be entirely better by the time he’d be forced to go through the brushing. However, he had to change said thought process by the time Sousuke had brought back the items he needed.
While there was the expected toothbrush and paste in his hand, a roll of floss was also hanging from one of his fingers.
And he had seen what happened to Akuta.
Edging himself further back was useless, avoiding eye contact was useless…the fear and dread shot through the future count’s nervous system so fast that the tears started to flow again, faster than any known river rapids. And while it didn’t hinder Sousuke’s actions in the least as he started to paste up a brush, Sutoreito couldn’t help but feel pity for his protector…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Throughout the entire ordeal of Samon’s examination and brushing (with flossing included at no additional charge), Tasuku was in and out of laughing his ass off. The sight of the muscle-brained fool being humiliated at the hands of one of their seniors was hilarious to him, not to mention the image of him getting white string threaded through his mouth was one he wished he could forever save in his back pocket whenever the other got a little too close with that sword.
Samon was still trembling when he was finally let loose, latching himself by the hip to Sutoreito. Whether it was to protect his lord from anything further or to surround himself with a person he could truly trust, no one in that room would really ever know.
The end of his treatment didn’t mean the end of his teasing, though. “You should have seen yourself!” Tasuku kept laying it on thicker and thicker. “Honestly, how in the world do they expect the heir of the Nyuto family name to protect others when he can’t even sit still for a simple procedure like this? How pathetic, how unfitting for a status such as this. They really should just take your title and-”
“That’s enough, Tasuku,” Sutoreito cut him off, trying to provide some mercy to his panicked protector. He understood what he had just gone through, after all.
The strawberry blond resigned his insults with a huff, still thinking them as he glared at Samon getting quietly soothed by the duke's heir. If I was in that position, there's no way anyone would see me so despondent!
Sousuke cleared his throat, getting a bit tired himself. “And the last one is…?”
A cocky grin grew across Tasuku's face, the secretary being the only one to walk up and sit across his fellow glasses-wearer without any hesitation. “That would be me.” Yes, he would still like to forget what happened when was forced to…give up his wearable possessions earlier, so to speak, but this was absolutely different. All this commoner was doing was sticking a mirror in his mouth and giving him a quick brush, nothing nearly as invasive as that afternoon's events. He's suffered through far more questionable ordeals in his life; what could possibly go wrong?
He silently opened up when prompted to, just having time pass by as he let Sousuke do what he wanted. He even purposefully opened his eyes at times, watching his senior's facial expressions. He wasn't nearly as narcissistic as a certain regular winner of the Pretty Boy Contest, but he took a little bit of pride in how he took care of aspects of himself. While others made fun of him for it in the past, he was proud of his prominent canine teeth in his reflection. And he was always the most diligent in the washrooms both morning and night, so he wouldn't need a flossing treatment like that meathead, much less anything else-
“Hm?” Sousuke raised an eyebrow at the image he saw in his tool. “That's unusual…”
So much for “what could possibly go wrong”.
Tasuku's eyes gained a flicker of concern. “What? What do you mean ‘unusual’?” He tried to demand an explanation, but the mirror was so far back that his attempt to speak forced a similar retching to the president's to come out of him.
“Don't talk, it'll make more of an issue.” Before the 1st year had a chance to question what this “issue” was, Sousuke had gotten up out of his own seat. “I didn’t think I would need this…good thing I brought it, just in case.” More questions and concerns started to flood Tasuku’s mind, but none of them were able to come out, at least coherently.
That is until he thought he heard the familiar chink of metal increase in volume.
“Wait. What are you doing?” He didn’t dare leave his own seating position, but he was slowly starting to feel like the fly who didn’t see the spider web in its path. When Sousuke returned, Tasuku was far more on edge than before, but still parted his lips when he felt that mirror against them once more. This was when he purposefully kept his eyes shut; he was simply being paranoid. What could this 3rd year have that could be any worse than what’s already hap-
“OW!!!” The secretary suddenly screamed out, a painful sensation shooting through his body like a lightning bolt. His eyes were wide open at this point, and Tasuku saw what exactly the culprit was. While he had pulled away when it happened, Sousuke was still holding the metal mirror in one hand. The other, however, was holding another slender instrument, one with a curved end, a sharp point, and shaped like a sickle blade.
And whatever he did with it, it hurt like hell.
“What was that for?!” He yelled, knee-jerk reactions overriding his pride.
Sousuke only nodded in response. “The way you reacted tells me a lot. I want to make sure, though.” While the glasses user with green hair leaned back in, wordlessly telling him to open up again, only the sickle-like tool was in his hand now.
Tasuku was just as wordless in response, shaking his head hoping in vain that the other would back off. Sousuke only took this as a signal to use more drastic measures. His free hand grabbed the first year’s chin, gradually increasing the pressure he used on each side. It was a different kind of hurt he felt this time, and soon it reached its limit on his nerves. With another wince his jaws parted, letting the dorm mom put the tool in again.
It didn’t take Sousuke long to find the offending tooth that caught his attention before. He carefully poked around the sides and in the spot that piqued his interest, his dexterity cautious but also evident of a slightly inexperienced 18 year old. He didn’t think it was supposed to stick the way it was doing in the area of concern…
While this was all happening, Tasuku was writhing in pain underneath him. His senior still had an iron grip on his jaw, so all he could do was try to muzzle any more shrieks with sheer willpower (which wasn’t going very well, to be fair). His legs were kicking frantically in response to the sensation, only being rivaled by Akuta when it came to movement overall.
Almost everyone else in the room was curious about what was happening to the scion of the Nekoma estate, but only one was willing to speak up. “Unohana, what is going on with Tasuku?” Sutoreito interrogated his classmate. “I haven’t heard him in such hysterics before.”
“I can’t fully say for sure. However, what I can say is that there is definitely room for improvement.”
Tasuku was gasping for breath when he was finally released and the throbbing pricks subsided. Improvement? He thought to himself. What on earth is he talking about?
As Sousuke gathered another handful of items one last time, the strawberry blond was praying that it was something freak, unexpected, that was happening to him. He was just psyching himself out and all the other had found was a stray speck of dinner that didn’t seem to leave. Absolutely, nothing more than tha-
When Tasuku saw the items in Sousuke’s hands match the ones gathered for Samon exactly, the expression on his face matched one of a cat who was hovering right above an open body of water, ready to be dropped in.
And that cat did not have the name Nuru.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The nobility of the school’s student council walked back to the dormitory after classes with mixed feelings in their hearts. They were still trying to recover from the humiliation that wrecked their dignity and their sleep schedule that previous day. Their most recent attempt at “conquering the planet” via a maternal-obsessed student turned kangaroo had failed spectacularly. The main reason for both of those incidents kept spouting off about a mother’s love, and none of the three wanted to hear the name “mommy” uttered again for as long as they lived.
Samon opened the door for his fellow council members, ready to unleash the thoughts he had kept bottled up all the way home. “My lord, you mustn't take this attempt into account. This monster was wonderful! That green character was unexpected, he shouldn’t have been able to-”
“It’s alright, Samon,” Sutoreito reassured him, putting the internal frustration he had into each stair he climbed. “As I said before, they were spared this time thanks to motherly love. But next time, they shall have no such mercy.”
Tasuku huffed, turning his nose up. “They shouldn’t be getting mercy at all! President, there needs to be more attacks than this, there are many more vessels that can be taken advantage of.”
“All in due time, all in due time…”
As they reached the top of the steps, Samon pushed a bit further ahead, intending to open the doors to the throne room as well. Instead, he looked at something pasted on the wooden door. The other two heard murmurs from the second-year, both wondering what he was going on about.
A rip of adhesive was heard, and the vice-president hustled back to his companions. “Tasuku, a summons for you!” He hands the small parchment card to his junior. “It appears to be very important.”
For a moment, a bit of hubris washed over Tasuku. A summons for him? Who finally recognized his and his family's strengths? He scanned over the card with a beaming grin…only for said grin to fall off a cliff like a flightless bird.
The paper was shoved back to Samon, the force against his chest so sudden he slammed against the wall.
“How did that commoner schedule a dentist's appointment in my name?!”